Mixed fabric with wool surface



Oct. 30, 1962l H. BOGATY ETAL MIXED FABRIC WITH WOOL SURFACE Filed Aug. l1, 1959 AINLY WOOL FILUNG INVENTORS Herm Norman R. y John/C.Hz`aterman ATTORNEY s wool and about 15% nylon. in Military Specification MlL-Cll065A (QMC) Cloth, Wool and Nylon, Flannel, 16 Ounce, Shrink Resistant,

United States Patent OH ice 3,060,551 MIXED FABRIC WITH WOOL SURFACE Herman Bogaty, Evanston, Ill., Norman R. S. Hollies,`

Bethesda, Md., and John C. Hintermaier, Troy, N.Y.,`

assignors to the United States of America asv represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Aug. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 833,117

16 Claims. (Cl. 2878) v attributes of comfort, particularly for cold weather wear.

While the comfort characteristics of wool clothing are `1ik not completely understood, the advantages of v fabrics made entirely or substantially of wool are thought to stem inter alia from the resiliency of the wool fiber, the capacity of wool to absorb water vapor transpired by the skin, and the resistance of wool cloth to transfer of liquid waterby wicking Additional important virtues of wool fabrics for warmth and comfort are believed to be derived from the typical hairiness of the wool yfabric surface: th tendency for wool fabrics to be bulky for their weight and hence, to exhibit effective thermal insulation, to resist wetting of the surface by liquid water, to yield to compression of thethickness but to recover its original thickness on removal of thecompressive forces and to feel warm to the touch. Wool garments normally meet the standards of appearance and the wearing and comfort characteristics described but wool is scarce during wartime and its procurement is a substantial cost item even in time of peace.

The United States Army has adopted a flannel-type mixed wool and nylon fabric consisting of about 85% Such a fabric is specified 27 June 1958. This fabric has v ery favorable vwearing characteristics, but effects a saving of only about 15% wool.

A larger reduction of the wool content of a mixed wool and synthetic fabric without impairment of wearing characteristics, is desirable for military and civilian uses, inasmuch as wool is a critical commodity during times of national emergency. While fabrics containing lio-50% of synthetic fibers in admixture with wool have been produced by others, these fabrics tend to be thin and hence, poor thermal insulators. They are cool to the touch, easily wet by water, and low in water vapor absorption in many cases. The present invention provides a Patented Oct. 30, 1962 means to achieve reduction of wool content in mixed wool and synthetic lfabricswithout material iimpoverishment of the desirable woollikecharacteristic of the cloth. By reason of combining about 50-70% wool fibers and about 30-50% crimped,"`shortstaple artificial fibers vand, selection of appropriate` warp and filling yarns, fabric construction and shrinkage factors, there is produced a lofty fabric with a nearly .all-wool surface, wherein the artificial fibers component remain principally imbedded in the interior. substantially less cost than the 85% wool, 15% nylon fabric now in miltiary use. Our tests have shown the suitability of a very wide variety of artificial man-made fibers in crimped short Astaple form for random admixture with woolin the production of yarns for the purposes of our invention. Such fibers include, but are not limited to the following: v

TABLEI Commercial name: Chemical composition Nylon Long-chain oriented synthetic polyamide, e.g., hexamcthylene adipamide polymer or caprolactam `Performance testing has led us to the conclusion that ternary yarns, i.e., yarns composed of wool fibers and two different artificial fibers, give the best results because of greater latitude in selection; however, a number of binary yarns, i.e., yarns composed of wool fibers and one artificial fiber, may be employed for the purposes of our invention. A typical ternary yarn for the practice of our invention may be composed e.g., of `70% wool fibers, 10l5% nylon crimped short staple fibers and 20-25% rayon (viscose) crimped short staple fibers.y

Best resultsin terms of fabricperformance were obtained with ternary yarns composed of 65% wool fibers (e.g.,"

40% wool tops and 25% wool noils), 15%y vnylon crimped short staple fibers and 20% rayon (viscose) or dynel crimped short staple fibers; another ternary yarn giving very favorable results when woven in accordance with the present invention is composed of 65% wool fibers, 20% dynel crimped short staple 4fibers and 15% g rayon (viscose) crimped short staple fibers.

Other mixed yarn combinations suitable for producingfa y,

mixed fabric in accordance with our invention are, e.g.:`

TABLE 2 Wool, Vicara, Viscose, Nylon, Dynel, IIS .(high Dynel Orlon, HS `(high 'Orlon percent percent percent percent percent shrink), percent ypercent shrink), percenty Y percent percent y A This fabric can beproduced at The foregoing table shows` the viscose (regenerated cellulose rayon) ber content of mixed yarns suitable for the purpose of our invention to be as low as and as high as 3,5% of the total ber content.

It will be understood, of course, that fabrics produced in accordance with our invention from these mixed yarns somewhat differ from each other in performance characteristics e.g., with regard to tensile strength, abrasion strength, thermal insulation, water absorption, etc.; however, they are all wool-plated in the sense that the surface cover of the fabric consists of bers projecting from the surface of the cloth which projecting bers are mainly wool bers, while the synthetic bers remain for the most part embedded in the interior of the fabric, whereby the wearer of the garment is given the feeling of wearing an al1-wool garment.

It accordingly is an object of the present invention to provide a mixed wool fabric having wearing and comfort characteristics at least equivalent to an all-wool fabric, and containing a larger percentage of artificial bers than heretofore practiced by the art.

Another object of the invention is a mixed wool and articial fabric having a nearly all-wool surface and wherein the articial bers are principally in the interior of the fabric. Y

A further object of our invention is a mixed wool and synthetic fabric which can be woven on conventional weaving machinery, and which is subsequently processed by methods familiar to those working in the art.

Other objects and advantages, will become apparent from the following description of the principles on which the invention is based and of a preferred mode of carrying the same into practice.

As stated, our invention produces a fabric which is wool-plated on its surface even when up to 50% of the wool is replaced by a synthetic ber of suitable diameter and staple length. The invention utilizes the differential migration qualities of wool and artificial bers during fulling to produce a lofty fabric with good surface wool cover.

Garments that may be made from such bers include, e.g., shirts, trousers, jackets; of the foregoing uses, the one presently considered to be of principal importance is as a shirting fabric. The surface wool cover of the shirting and other fabrics made in accordance with our invention is produced without resorting to the mechanical process commonly used in industry of brushing the fabric with wire brushes, raising bers from the surface of the fabric to produce a nap (a process commonly known as napping). Our fabric is engineered to maximize the differential shrinkage properties of the bers and the tendency of wool bers to migrate during fulling by utilizing a loose construction throughout the preliminary stages of manufacturing. The loose construction promoted freedom of motion for the ber during the fulling operation. Without necessarily limiting ourselves to the following enumeration, we presently conclude that the desirable wool-plating eect of the fabrics produced in accordance with our invention, is due to a combination of the following features:

(1) Selection of diameter and length of synthetic ber to blend with wool. In general, thicker, shorter crimped synthetic bers are used in the practice of this invention than is commonly practiced by the industry.

(2) The yarns are spun with a low twist. The level of twist is approximately two-thirds that normally used by the industry for the same count yarn.

(3) A coarser yarn is used in the filling than in the warp.

(4) Opposing twists are used in warp and lling yarns.

(5) A loose weave is used such as a 3/1 crowfoot, or other satin or twill weaves (e.g. 2/ 2 common twill) having relatively long oats (2 or more) consistent with aloose fabric construction.

(6) Length shrinkage in fulling is about 20-30%, e.g.,

, c 4 f 25%, which differs from common practice to lll-15% fulling shrinkage. In other words, our fabric is shrunk to about -80% of (preferably about 75%) its original length during fulling.

We recommend in the manufacture of the fabric that the warp is reeded wide in the loom, e.g., 72'inches or wider for a 56" finished width, Yand that a low number of picks is used in the loom.

In the appended drawings there is illustrated in diagrammatic form a typical fabric in accordance with our invention.

FIGURE 1 is a schematic transverse section, in greatly enlarged scale, through a 3/1 crowfoot satin fabric produced in accordance with our invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic weave chart of a 3/1 crowfoot warp face satin fabric at a still larger scale.

FIGURE 1 shows warp yarn 11 floated over three lling yarns 12; a fuuy surface cover 13, 13', almost entirely wool, constitutes the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric, while the artificial ber components of the mixed wool and artificial ber warp and lling yarns remain the interior of the fabric.

In conformance with the patent statutes, we now proceed to a manufacturing description of the production of a preferred 16 ounce shirting fabric, in accordance with our invention, without, of course, restricting the scope of our invention to any specic technical details set forth.

Example 1 Yarn: 40% wool tops and 25% wool nols, 20% viscose (rayon) and 15% nylon.

Wool tops: Grade 58/60s Super A grade pulled or eece (USDA grade) carbonized.

Wool noils: Grade 60/62's (USDA grade), carbonized.

Viscose: 5.5 denier, delustered, crimped, 1%" staple.

Nylon: 6 denier, 11/2" staple, crimp set.

Weave loose crowfoot satin 3/ 1, warp face.

Width, exclusive of selvage 56".

Thread count per inch in nished cloth: 38 warp, 33 lling.

Yarn size, nominal, warp 3% run, lling 3V4 run (lling yarn slightly coarser than warp yarn).

Yarn twist per inch, nominal, warp S 8.5 to 9, filling Z 7.5 to 8 (opposite twist).

Reed width: 72" for a 56" fabric. goods: 65-68".

The goods are fulled by heat and moisture to a width of about 56", and to a length shrinkage of about 9" per yard (corresponding to a length reduction of about 25 A conventional shrink resistant treatment, e.g., commercial chlorination or resin treatment may be applied. Olive drab color is suitable for military shirting.

c Other weaves made in the same manner had the followmg structures:

Width of gray It will thus be seen that we have provided an open 70 weave mixed wool and articial ber fabric of excellent The fabric possesses water resistance substantially vequal to the water resistance of an all-wool fabric, and a strength at least equal to that of an all-wool fabric. Our fabric is preferably composed of warp and lling yarns of opposite low-twist, the filling yarns being slightly coarser than the warp yarns. 'I he wool component of our fabric yarns is 50-70% wool bers and randomly distributed therewith artificial 30-50% crimped short staple fibers, of which we prefer at least lil-% to be nylon or dynel bers. Our fabric construction is a loose long-oat weave, fulled so as to shrink the fabric to about 70-80% of its original unfulled length. Such wool-plated mixed fabrics are suitable for military and civilian garments customarily made of all-wool'materials, such as shirts, trousers, jackets, etc. and are their functional equivalents or even superiors, if the principles of our invention are observed in manufacturing.

The thickness or loftiness obtained in this fabric is shown in the following table, which also shows the thicknesses for several variations of ber composition, otherwise made in the same way.

TABLE 3 Composition: Thickness at 0.01 p.s.i. in inches Wool 65%, rayon 20%, nylon 15% .114 Wool 65%, rayon 15%, dynel 20% .104 Wool 65%, nylon 15%, dynel 20% .106

The measurement of thickness is taken on relaxed fabric, that is, fabric which has been wet out and allowed to dry without pressure or tension on a at surface. The measurement was made with the Schiefer compressometer, using a disc ve inches in diameter. The operation of the Schiefer compressometer is described in the National Bureau of Standards Journal of Research, vol. 10 (1933), pages 705-713.

By comparison, thickness measurements on twenty samples of 85% wool, 15% nylon shirting fabrics, in accordance with the military specication identified in the third paragraph of the specification, averaged .1075 inch.

Having thus described the principles of our invention and several preferred modes of carrying the same into practice, it isl evident that several modifications and adaptations will readily occur to the expert without departing from the essence of our invention. We therefore desire to encompass such modifications and adaptations within the scope of our invention, and to this end define the sarne by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A mixed wool and artificial ber fabric having wearing characteristics substantially equivalent to an all-wool fabric, said fabric having warp and filling yarns of low twist, said yarns being composed of about 5070% wool fibers and about -50% crimped short staple artificial fibers in random distribution, said yarns including in their said loose fabric being shrunk to about 70-80% of itsoriginal length, whereby a lofty resilient fabric with a wool surface cover is produced and wherein the artificial fibers remain principally embedded in the interior of said fabric.

2. A mixed wool and artificial ber fabric having wearing characteristics substantially equivalent to an all-wool fabric, said fabric having warp and filling yarns of opposite low twist, said yarns being composed of about 50-70% wool fibers and about 30-50% crimped short staple articial fibers in random distribution, said yarns including in their artificial fiber component about 0-35% cellulosic fibers, and said warp and lling yarns being woven into a Ioose weave having warp yarn floats over at least 2 filling yarns, said loose fabric being shrunk to about 70-80% of its original length, whereby a lofty resilient fabric with a wool surface cover is produced and wherein the ing characteristics substantially equivalent to an all-wool fabric, said fabric having warp and filling yarns of low twist, saidyarns being composed of Vabout 50-70%'woo1 bers and about 30-50% crimped short staple artificial fibers in random distribution, said yarns including in their artificial ber component about 035% cellulosic fibers, said filling yarns being slightly coarser than said warp yarns, and said warp and filling yarns being woven into a loose weave having warp yarn floats over at least 2 filling yarns, said loose fabric being shrunk to about 70- of its original length, whereby a lofty resilient fabric with a wool surface cover is produced and wherein the artificial fibers remain principally embedded in the interior of said fabric.

4. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein said yarns contain about 65 wool bers.

5. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein said yarns contain at least about 10% nylon bers.

6. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein said yarn is composed of about 65% wool bers, about 20% rayon fibers and about 15 nylon fibers.

7. Fabric according to claim 1, wherein said artificial gllcers comprise vinyl chlorideV acrylonitrile copolymer 8. Fabric according to claim l, wherein said artificial fibers comprise polyacrylonitrile fibers.

9. Fabric according to claim 1 wherein said yarn is composed of about 65% wool fibers, about 15% rayon rd about 20% vinyl chloride acrylonitrile copolymer ers.

10. Fabric according to claim Vl wherein said yarn is composed of about 65% wool bers, about 15% nylon ggg -about 20% vinyl chloride acrylonitrile copolymer 11. Fabric according to claim 1 wherein said yarn is composed of about 70% wool fibers, about 15 nylon and about 15 regenerated zein protein fibers.

12. Fabric according to claim' 1, wherein said loose weave is a satin-type weave having warp yarn floats over at least 3 filling yarns.

13. A mixed wool-nylon-rayon fiber fabric having wearing characteristics substantially equivalent to an all-wool fabric, said fabric having warp and filling yarns of opposite low twist of from about f to about 10 turns per inch, said filling yarns having a slightly lower twist than and being somewhat coarser than said warp yarns, said warp and filling yarns being composed of about 50-70% wool fibers and about 3050% crimped short staple nylon and rayon bers including at least about 10% nylon fibers in random distribution, and being woven into a loose 3/1 crowfoot satin weave, said loose fabric being shrunk to about 70-80% of its original length, whereby a lofty resilient fabric with a wool surface cover is produced and wherein the nylon and rayon fibers remain principally embedded in the interior of said fabric.

14. Fabric according to claim 13, wherein said warp and filling yarns contain about 65% wool fibers, about 15 nylon fibers and about 20% rayon fibers.

15. Fabric according to claim 14, wherein said wool fibelrs include about 40% wool tops and about 25% wool nor s.

16. A mixed wool and artificial ber fabric having wearing characteristics substantially equivalent to an allwool fabric, said fabric having warp and lling yarns of low twist, said yarns being composed of about 65-70% wool bers and about 30-35% crimped short staple artifi- `cial bers including at least about 10% non-cellulosic bers, in random distribution, and said warp and lling yarns being woven into a loose weave having warp yarn oats over at least 2 lling yarns, said loose fabric being shrunk to about 7080% of its original length, whereby a lofty resilient fabric with a wool surface cover is produced and wherein the articial bers remain principally embedded in the interior of said fabric. I

References Cited in the le of this patent 8 Radford Dec. 4, 1945 Cluley etal. Sept. 10, 1946 Speakman Feb. 19, 1952 Nelson Aug. 17, 1954 Moeckel May 21, 1957 Heiks July 28, 1959 Chapin Oct. 31, 1961 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OE CORRECTION Patent Nm 3,060,551 october 3o, 1962 Herman Bogaty et al It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 2, "TABLE 2", the sixth and seventh column headings should appear as shown below instead of as in the patent:

HS (high shrink) Dynel percent strike out the vertical line between the sixth and seventh columns; same TABLE 2, the ninth and tenth column headings should appear as shown below instead oi as in the patent:

Hs (high shrink) Orlon percent strike out the vertical line between the ninth and tenth columns; column 8, line 3 for \"2,586538" read e 2,586, 106

Signed and sealed this 30th day of April 1968 (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W SWIDER DAVID L LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A MIXED WOOL AND ARTIFICIAL FIBER FABRIC HAVING WEARLING CHARACTERISTICS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT TO AN ALL-WOOL FABRIC, SAID FABRIC HAVING WRAP AND FILLING YARNS OF LOW TWIST, SAID YARNS BEING COMPOSED OF ABOUT 50-70% WOOL FIBERS AND ABOUT 30-50% CRIMPED SHORT STAPLE ARTICIAL 